‘Young Frankenstein’ Hits The Great White Way

By Sarah Kricheff June 13, 2007

Though it seems unlikely that seasoned Broadway actor Roger Bart would have Gene Wilder as a role model, it appears that Bart is following in Wilder’s footsteps. Bart, who won a Tony for his portrayal of Snoopy in the 1999 Broadway revival of “You’re A Good Man, Charlie Brown,” will play Dr. Frankenstein in the new Broadway musical “Young Frankenstein,” based on Mel Brooks’s classic 1974 film that, of course, stared Wilder as the young neurosurgeon.

But that’s not the only link these two thespians share: Wilder (whose real name is Jerome Silberman) played Leo Bloom in Brooks’s 1968 film “The Producers,” a role that Bart took on in 2003 in the Broadway musical adaptaion. “Young Frankenstein,” the musical, will open November 8 at the Hilton Theatre (previews begin October 11).

The production, to be directed and choreographed by Susan Stroman, also features Megan Mullally as Elizabeth, Sutton Foster as Inga, Shuler Hensley as the Monster, Fred Applegate as Kemp and Christopher Fitzgerald as Igor.

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